Why Asé Lingít is different than other informational Tlingit websites that exist:

Neil is Tlingit for inside. I am striving to provide inside information about the culture, as I have a direct connection to it, and am not simply a researcher. There are few other websites that inform about the Tlingit culture. The most credible is the Sealaska Heritage Institute that seeks to enhance and inform about the culture by documenting it and preserving the culture through educating the youth. As I will discuss later, the appropriation of Native lands and reparation from the government for the mistreatment of the native people was distributed very differently in Alaska than it was in the lower 48. The Sealaska Corporation, for example, over sees the native interests of Southeast Alaska and the Tlingit and other native people. My approach to this website is to informatively discuss the Tlingit culture from a more personal viewpoint, discussing what I consider to be special and unique about the culture.

Why I am a credible reporter of the Tlingit history and present culture:

In contrast to those who grew up directly within the culture, I grew up in a city where Native cultural activities were not as abundant, so I had to actively seek them in order to be informed and involved. Through my experiences, however, I came away feeling a strong spiritual connection to the Tlingit culture. I have a greater appreciation of what it means to be Tlingit. I do not speak Tlingit fluently, or have a full blood quantum but I am very much Tlingit. My greater understanding of traditional Native values, my willingness to embrace them, and my excitement over my involvement in my culture, is what it means to me to be Tlingit and is what I want to share through this website.

What the site includes:

Asé Lingít will include and share many aspects of the Tlingit culture. I will discuss the origins and the current state of the Tlingit culture.  In this part of the website, I will include an essay I wrote about my experiences at a Tlingit cultural immersion camp to give my personal account of living traditionally with the culture. Along with an explanation of the culture, an important aspect of the website will be to display Tlingit images and songs so that the site visitor can have visuals and audio that they are more capable of retaining in their mind instead of just reading about the culture.  Helping the visitor have a comprehensive understanding about the culture is the main purpose of this website.

How the site is engaging of the visitor:

In addition to being informative, this website will have helpful leads for the visitor to learn more, or become involved in the culture more on their own time. There will be a section that explains the basics of the Tlingit language, an explanation of the importance of genealogy for native people, and contacts for how a person can explore their family’s roots and possibly their own native ties. Also, as I am knowledgeable of local organizations and programs that focus on preserving the culture outside of the traditional realm, and to foster native and Tlingit communities in their areas—I will provide information for the site visitor for how they can connect to these resources. Pow wows for example are among the most traditional, and in my opinion, exciting expressions of Native culture.  I will include information about what Pow wows are, Pow wow etiquette, and ways to access the ‘Pow wow scene’ in the visitor’s area, so that they can have the opportunity to experience and appreciate the culture first hand.

What is the future of Asé Lingít:

There are several ways for this website to expand in the future. The website could take on increasingly historical value and provide a location for Tlingit youth to post their experiences and favorite aspects of their culture.  It could even publish accounts of Tlingit elders to showcase the precious historical value of the words of our elders.  As for the foundational aspects of the website that inform about the culture, this will not be as changing in the future. The basic purposes, practices, traditions, and history of the Tlingit culture are not going to evolve much in the future, and therefore the website will not need to keep up with many changes to this information. What I will update is how the information is presented. This will be in order to make it more comprehensible for the viewer.  By in large though, the content of this section of the web site will remain constant. In the future, I will definitely add, update and expand the resources that allow visitors to embrace and become involved in the culture. I will also add more of my personal accounts with the culture to maintain the personal touch of the site that was intended in its formation.

Summary:

In all, this site will be informative and provide visitors an opportunity to become more a part of the culture. By adding my personal accounts to the site, viewers will be able to see how other people, like myself, choose to be involved in the culture.  I find the Tlingit culture to be dynamic and gorgeous, and I hope to convey this to the viewers of my site Ayé Lingít, discovering Tlingit.